World-famous York Minster bells will not ring this Christmas for the first time in 655 years

The world-famous York Minster’s bells will NOT ring this Christmas for the first time in 655 years.

Why? Because bosses fired all 30 of bell-ringers with immediate effect. That’s why.

That’s right, the 30-strong volunteer team responsible for ringing the 56 bells were said to have been left in tears yesterday after being given the boot.

And as well as not being given a reason as to why they had all been fired, the locks to the tower doors have all been changed. Weird.

A new team of volunteers is to be recruited, and they will be headed by a paid bell-ringer known as the ‘Head of Tower’.

However, it will take around three months before the recruitment, induction and training process has been completed.

One bell ringer said: ‘We received letters over the weekend inviting us all to a meeting at Church House in Ogleforth – but we had no idea what it was about.

‘The reaction was one of complete shock and people were in tears afterwards. The Minster has been a very unhappy place in recent months – but we had no idea this was coming.

‘The Minster has increasingly taken a corporate managerial approach – rather than one of Christian compassion.’

A York Minster spokeswoman said: ‘All the former bell ringers are entitled to apply to join the new team and go through a new training and induction process.

‘Some have indicated they would be interested in doing that.

‘The Minster hopes the process would open up the bell ringing to new people who have not been involved before.’

The bells will now be silent on Sundays until the new year – including Remembrance Sunday – and the church will not ring in the New Year at midnight on December 31.

John Ridgeway-Wood, who plays the smaller carillon bells at York Minster, said: ‘I was absolutely shocked when I heard the news.

‘They are one of the finest ringing groups in the country – if not the world. For a lot of them – this is their life.

‘The actions of the Dean and Chapter are outrageous – I am absolutely furious.’